The present invention relates to a system for locking adjacently positioned panels together and for suspending the assembled panels from a supporting member. A wide variety of techniques have been used in the past to install panels to overhead supporting structure, including by way of example, panels which are provided with locking flanges configured such that after the flanges of adjacent panels are aligned one of the panels is rotated relative to the other to lock the panels in place. Clips extending downwardly from the supporting member have sometimes been used to secure the adjacent flanges of the panels to the supporting member. In addition to the foregoing, the panels are sometimes fastened directly to the overhead supporting structure with the use of self-drilling fasteners. With these and other known panel locking systems in mind it is apparent that with the spring action panel interlock of the present invention it is possible to accomplish the following objectives believed to be heretofore unavailable. With the present invention, adjacent panels may be interlocked with only "linear" motion by merely urging the male flange of one panel into engagement within the female flange of an adjacent panel. Thus, the necessity of having to swing one panel over the other, or to use clips, or to pre-drill the support before beginning to assemble the panels, is eliminated. Moreover, with the present invention simple screw-type fasteners may be used to secure the panels to the overhead supporting structure from a position below the structure thus avoiding the necessity of having to work on top of the supporting structure. In addition, with the panel interlock of the present invention only very slight pressure by the hand is necessary to "snap" the interlocking flanges of adjacent panels together. But once assembled, the panels cannot unlock by reverse action under downward pressure since increasing the load on the panels results only in forcing the interlocking flanges into tighter engagement. This procedure of interlocking with only slight pressure while providing a fail-safe system against unlocking is applicable over a wide range of dimensional tolerances thus avoiding the necessity of precise orientation of the components of the interlocking system. Still further, the snap-action panel interlock of the present invention is suitable for use with a reinforcing member positioned between the interlocking flanges of adjacent panels for increasing substantially both the load bearing and spanning capability of the assembled panel system.
The foregoing advantages are accomplished with the spring action panel interlock of the present invention which features a first interlocking female flange of one panel that has a portion which extends from the panel to the supporting member, another portion that extends along the supporting member engaging same such that a fastener can secure this portion directly to the supporting member, and another portion that extends away from the supporting member terminating in an end which is spaced from the other portions of the flange and which is provided with a lip. The other interlocking male flange of an adjacent panel has a portion which extends from the panel and which engages only a part of the corresponding portion of the other flange so as to reduce the friction therebetween permitting longitudinal sliding of adjacent panels, and another portion which extends diagonally backwardly terminating in an end which engages the lip of the other flange. Under increased loading, the interlocked panels are forced into even tighter relationship as a result of the diagonally positioned portion of the male flange being forced into a position generally perpendicular to the remainder of the flange thus causing the end of the male flange to force the lip of the female flange outwardly.